Yellow-Headed Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus collaris auriceps)
Description: Males tend to be very brightly colored, with brilliant green for the body and bright yellow for the head. Both sexes have the namesake collar around their neck. While they can't change color at will like a chameleon, their colors can vary depending on the season.
Habitat: C. collaris inhabit rocky areas with sparse vegetation. Boulder strewn hillsides and rocky outcroppings are common in their living areas. Collared lizards dig under boulders to sleep and lay their eggs.
Range: Crotaphytus collaris is native to the western states of the U.S
Found in these States:
CO |
UT
Diet: Crotaphytus collaris is mainly insectivorous and carnivorous. Occasionally their diet may consist of plant matter. C. collaris does vary its diet depending on what is abundant. Food can range from grasshoppers to smaller lizards
Reproduction: Crotaphytus collaris courts and mates on the ground in spring to early summer. An average clutch size is 4 to 6 eggs and 1 to 2 clutches are produced per year. Eggs are deposited in underground burrows underneath rocks or loose sand. The incubation period for the eggs is generally 53 to 94 days. Adult C. collaris exhibit no parental care
Status: Crotaphytus collaris is assessed as Least Concern because this species is widely distributed and is represented by many stable populations. It faces no major threats at present.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Lizards
»» Family: Crotaphytidae - Collarded & Leopard Lizards
»» Genus: Crotaphytus
»» Species: Crotaphytus collaris - Common Collared Lizard
»» Subspecies: Crotaphytus collaris auriceps - Yellow-Headed Collared Lizard
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Common Collared Lizard", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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